This invention relates to mirror assemblies for a vehicle, and more particularly to an improved mounting arrangement for a rear view mirror for use on a vehicle.
Rear view mirrors are regularly utilized in a vehicle in order to permit the driver to view what is behind him. Such mirrors require extreme versatility to be able to manipulate the mirror to a desired position so that the driver can gain a proper view of the rear of the vehicle. Depending upon the size of the driver, the particular method of his driving and numerous other factors, each driver will require a different position of the mirror in order to properly gain an adequate view.
One particular arrangement which is utilized for manipulation of the rear view mirror is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,367,616. In such arrangement, a button and shoe, generally referred to as a "turtle", is provided on the windshield from which extends an elongated barrel having a universal swivel at each end thereof. The mirror unit itself is connected at the distal end of the swivel. This arrangement permits a considerable amount of manipulation of the mirror and has been generally utilized in many vehicles.
Despite the manipulation capabilities thus far achieved, it has been found that there is still inadequate capability for viewing a wide area and inadequate capability in full manipulation of the rear view mirror. As a result, numerous suggestions have been made to expand the mirror unit by incorporating adjacent auxiliary mirrors in order to enhance the angle of viewing of the driver and cover normal "dead spots" which are not readily visible using a single mirror.
One such mirror arrangement is described in the aforementioned co-pending application Ser. No. 424,575 wherein there is described a mirror assembly having a standard rearward viewing mirror with adjacent mirror units wherein the mirrors can be positioned adjacent and substantially contiguous with each other. At the same time, the mirrors have a convex mirror on one side and a flat mirror on the other side.
While all of the aforementioned have provided improvement in utilization of rear view mirrors, there appears to be need for sufficient ability to manipulate a rear view mirror. The critical factor in providing adequate rear view capability appears to be in the adequacy of the manipulation capability of the mirror unit itself.